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Last week, after spending a day in Seattle interviewing Salish Sea Trading Cooperative, Justin and I finally had a chance to continue our drive North, all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia. Even before moving to the Pacific Northwest, I've been eager to visit Vancouver, which according to some sources is one of the most livable cities in the world (and according to my incomplete research, might also be one of the most expensive!).

The city presents an interesting mix of high-rise construction, a significant Asian population, innovative bike infrastructure, urban farming, wide expanses of parkland, and hipster culture (of which I'm very much a fan). In the past few years, new restaurants and coffee shops have rapidly opened, clustered in the Mount Pleasant, Riley Park, Chinatown, and Gastown neighborhoods. I had a chance to interview three unique-to-Vancouver businesses: two related to farming/gardening (Victory Gardens and Inner City Farms) and one related to my insatiable love of pie (The Pie Shoppe). Check over on These Salty Oats throughout the next month to read more about these businesses.

In between these interviews and Justin's own work, we carved out time each day to explore different neighborhoods, from the hilly Mount Pleasant (where we stayed), to the beachfront Kitsilano, to the mostly renewed Gastown. (Gastown borders Hastings Street, which is home to a large homeless population. You can read more about the current situation here.) We both wandered and ran around Stanley Park, and enjoyed our fair share of totem poles. And of course, we ate and drank everywhere we went.

Highlights

Note: These are just a few highlights, not inclusive of all the city has to offer, and not even inclusive of all of our favorites.